Oil-tank cleaner



July 12, 1927. 63553 M. C:4 COLEMAN ET AL OIL TANK CLEANER 1,635,539 July 12 1927' M. c. COLEMAN ET AL OIL TANK CLEANER Filed May 18, 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 WITNESS: ATTORNEY 1,635 539 July 1-2 1927 M. c. COLEMAN ET AL l OIL TANK CLEANER Filed May 18. 1925 3 sheets-sheet 5 INVENTOR ATTORNEY WITNESS:

l Patented July l2, 1927.

UNITED STATES -METCALFE c. COLEMAN, or DBUMWRIGHT, AND naar. n.

y OKLAHOMA.

SHOEMAKEE 0F TULSA,

OIL-TANK CLEANER.'

Application mea my is, 1925. serial mi. 31,167.

This inventionrelates t attachments to or accessories for use in connection with oil tanks and the like and has for its object the provision of a novel device designed to be mounted within an oil or other tank and capable of operation bya single individual from the top thereof whereby to cleanout any accumulations of sediment or other matter which would impair the quality of the product stored within the tank.

It is well known that in oil tanks there is a heavy accumulation of basicl sediment formed within-a comparatively short time and which must be removed occasionally to avoid impairing the quality of oil, asoline or the like. The ordinary method o effecting cleaning out the tank is. for several workmen to enter the tank and clean it out manually. This operation is a dangerous one owing to the existence of poisonous and deadly gases which accumulate within the tank and it frequently occurs that the workmen are overcome and are perhaps seriously and permanently injured as the result of inhaling the obnoxious gases.

It is with these facts in view that we have designed the present device which is intended to be mounted permanently within a tank and which is capable of operation at any desired time for the purpose of sweeping out the accumulation of sediment, only one operator being necessary and he being stationed at the top of the tank and never needing to enter and be exposed to the dangers of the deadly gases.

An im ortant obJect is the .provision of a device o this character which is so constructed and arranged that a power mechanism may be applied thereto at any desired time for effecting the actual sweeping out. An additional object is the provision of a device of this character which will be simple and inexpensive in manufacture, eas to install and operate, positive in action, e tcient and durable in use, and a general improvement in the art. v j

With the above and other objects'v and agdvantages in view, the invention consists in the details of construction to be hereinafter more fully described and claimed, and illustrated 1n the accompanying drawings in whichz- Figure 1 isa vertical cross section taken Figure 2 is a horizontalsection through the tank taken substantially on the line 2-2 of Figure 1 Figure 3 is a detail plan view of the driving'mechanism at the top'of the tank,

Figure 1 is a. detail perspective view of one end of the sweep,

Figure 5 is an enlarged detail section showing the mounting of the main shaft at the top of the tank. Referring more particularly to the drawings, the letter A represents a tank intended for' the storage of oil or any other liquid, which tank is provided with an outlet openmtg B at its lower portion, and at opposite si es of which we prefer to locate stops-10 and 11 which are for a purpose to beadescribed.

vMounted at the center at the bottom of the tank 1s a suitable step orother bearing 12 for the lower end of a Vertical operating shaft 13 which has its upperend engaged through a bearing 14 forming part of a spider 15v carried by a plurality of bars 16 secured within the upper portion of the tank. The shaft 13 is of such length that its upper end terminates below the top -of the manhole C-and Athis upper end is squared or otherwise formed into angular shape as indicated at 17 for a purpose to be described. Secured upon the lower portion of the shaft '13 is anl elongated arm or wing 18 which might be held in place by any desired means but which is here shownl asformed or provided with mating clamping members 19v embracingly 'engaging the shaft 13 and secured together as for instance. by means of suitable rivets'20 or the like. To make the structure more stable, a securing element such as a pin 21 is also passedA through the shaft 13 in addition to passin through the wing or arm. Secured to an dependin from this wing or arm 18, which is prefera lyvformed of metal, is a vwiper 22 necessarily formed of some suitable exible material such as sheet rubber, canvas ducking or the like.. The lower ed e of this flexible material is designed vto ear upon the bottom of the tank while the outer lend 23 is intended to bear against the inner wall .of the tank near the bottom thereof. In

order to brace the wing or` arm'semay be made of a stay rod or the like which is in-l dicated at 24 and which is connected with a collar 25 secured on the-shaft 13 beneath thel bearing 14. ,Any vnecessary adjustment may..

be made owing to the provision of a turn buckle 26 which is .interposed in the'- rod 24 as clearly shown.1

' lCooperating wlth themovable sweep or wing is a defiector or guide 27 which maybe v formed of wood or metal and Vwhich may in i actual practice be simply an elongated board of suitable height pivoted at one end upon the lower portion of the shaft 13 and having its other end terminating adjacent the` inner periphery of the tank wall and capable of moving between the Stops 10 and 11 above described. The purpose of thisguide cured to the top of the tank. This member 28 is provided with a lateral extension 30 having bearin s 31 thereon through which is journaled a s aft 32 carrying a worm 33 meshing with a worm wheel 34 carried by an extension shaft 35 which has a socketed lower end 36 engageable upon the squared extension 17 at the top of the main shaft 13. In the operation o the device, it will be seen that whenever it is desired or necessary to clean out any accumulation of matter. l w1th1n the tank, whatever closure means is provided for the clean out opening B must necearily be removed. The manhole cover, not shown, is likewise removed and the Worm and wormwheelfassembly are/placed in position with the extension shaft 35 thereof engaged upon the squared upper end 17 of the shaft 13. When the shaft 32 carr ing the worm 33 is subse uently rotate as for instance by means o the crank handle illustrated at 37 it is obvious that the rotation of the worm wheel 34 secured to the shaft 35 will result in rotation of the shaft 13 carryingthe wing or arm 18. As the shaft 13 is turned, the sweep 18 is carried around with it and the iexible member 22j engaging upon the bottom of the tank will operate to sweep in advance of it all accumulations of sediment or the like.

f' This matter moved along in advance of the armor sweep will be' brought to the deflector or guide plate 27 and be directed thereb out through the discharge opening B. t makes no difference as' vto the vdirectign in which the shaft 13 is 'turnedinasmuch as the sweep orwinis capableof mov in either-direction. owever, when. the s aft ber 27 will move into engagement'withthe stop 11 whereas when the sweep ismoved in the other direction the guide or deflector plate will engage against the stopflO.

When the tank has been cleaned out and use of the mechanism is no longer needed, the gearing assembly is simply removed along with its shaft 35 subsequently to which an suitable cover, not shown, may be applied tothe'manhole. In the case of small tanks, a socket wrench ma be used for turning the shaft 13 instea of providing the `gear mechanism.

From the foregoing description anda study of the drawings, V,it will be apparent that we have thus provided asimply constructed, inexpensive and veryA easily 1nstalled clean-out mechanism which may revmain permanently associated with a vtank ready for instant use and which has the great advanta e of being power. operated from the'outsi e of the tank so as to make it entirel unnecessary for a workmanto enter the tank and be ex osed to the dangers existing on account o the formation of gases.

preferred embodiment of the invention, it should be understood that we reserve the right to make such changes in the form, construction land arrangement of parts as willl not depart from the spirit` of the invention or the scopepof the subjoined claims.

l, Having thusdescribed the invention, we claim:

1. In combination withk a tank, a clean out device comprising a vertical shaft rotatably mounted within the tank at the center thereof, a ri id sweep arm carried by the shaft, amem er of fiexible material carried by the sweep arm and bearing upon the bottom and vagainst the inside wall of the tank, the tank having its lower portion provided with a discharge opening, 'a movable deiecting member disposable automatically at Veither side of the opening, and means for rotating the shaft 'carrying the sweep. l

2. In combination with a tank, a clean-out device comprising a vertical shaft rotatably mounted within the tank at the center thereof, a rigid sweep arm carried by the While we have shown and described the l13 is turned one way the guide plate memshaft, a member of flexible material carried bythe sweep armv and bearing upon the bottom and against the side wall of the tank,

the tank havlng its lower portion provided with a discharge opening, a movable deecting member disposable automatically at either side of the opening, and means for rotating the shaft carrying the sweep, said means 'comprising a gear assembly including a vframe an extension shaft Journaled therein and ormed for connection with Vsaid first named shaft, a worm wheel on the extension shaft,.and a shaft journaled within said frame and carrying a worm meshing with said worm wheel.

3. Altank clean-out device comprising a Vertical shaft journally mounted at the center of a tank, bearing means at the top and bottom of the tank for supporting the shaft, a sweep carried b`y the shaft and including a rigid arm having iexible material secured thereto bearing against the bottom and against the insidel wall of the tank, mechanically operated means adapted for connection with said shaft for effecting rotation thereof, the lower portion of the tank having a clean-out opening, and means for advance of the sweep for guiding an accumulation out through said opening.

4. A tank clean-out device comprising a vertical shaft journally mounted atl the center of a tank, bearing means at the top and bottom of the tank"for supporting the shaft, a sweep carried by the shaft and including a rigid arm having flexible material secured thereto and bearing upon the bottom and against 'the inside wall of the tank,

METCALFE C. COLEMAN. EARL D. SHOEMAKER. 

